AdFreak

'Tis the season for 'sexist' U.K. commercials

Considering how much advertising gets squeezed into the holiday season, life for the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority must be hell from October to mid-March. They're already fielding complaints about this Marks & Spencer's Christmas ad, whose final scene is supposedly "offensive and demeaning to women" because the actor, Philip Glenister, likes seeing hot girls in their underwear. Shocking that a guy in a bar could be so crass. As usual, the aggrieved come off like they've never watched TV before. This ad is juvenile, but hardly demeaning. Now GoDaddy, that was demeaning.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Polar bears more screwed than you thought

The U.K. is on a roll with its climate-change PSAs. First, there were the dogs drowning in rising seas. Now, we get this gruesome spot from Mother (posted below) for PlaneStupid.com, in which polar bears fall from the sky to splattery deaths—to make some point about airplane emissions. "An average European flight produces over 400kg of greenhouse gases for every passenger … that's the weight of an adult polar bear," the spot says. There's plenty to find objectionable here—the nonsensical connection between that stat and the rain of bears, as well as the general airplane-skyscraper-death theme, complete with a pretty blatant 9/11 Falling Man reference, which will evoke extremely negative emotions for some. Why do environmental groups shoot themselves in the foot like this? Via Animal.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
'Dead pets' climate-change ad feels the heat

Get naked, say the pervy scrubbing bubbles

What's really inside your household cleaning products? It could be a bunch of dirty-minded chemicals, who are all bright and bubbly and innocent in TV commercials but who indulge in debauchery off camera, hanging around long after cleaning time to watch you give your naked bod a good scrub in the shower. That's the warning in the video below from Droga5 and Method, the maker of environmentally friendly cleaning products. "When did clean become so dirty?" the company asks, and wants you to ask your elected officials. The goal is to require all cleaning products to list their ingredients on their labels, and to keep depraved bubble gangs out of your bathroom.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Muscle Milk pilgrim sexing up Thanksgiving

Considering how naughty Halloween has gotten, it was only a matter of time before someone took a crack at Thanksgiving. That someone is Muscle Milk, the athletic drink brand, which channels Justin Timberlake in this spoof hip-hop music video "Sexy Pilgrim" (posted below), courtesy of ad agency Pereira & O'Dell. It's fairly similar to the Smirnoff "Tea Partay" video from a couple years back. The clip is mildly entertaining, although I doubt many people will take Muscle Milk up on the download-the-song option at SexyPilgrim.com. (The coupon might do better.) Muscle Milk is pretty absent from the video, with the muscle-building properties of the protein drink implied via the buff versions of Miles Standish and Squanto.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Prostate cancer gets a proper street beating

TBWA\Chiat\Day goes the high-testosterone vigilante route in this pair of anti-prostate-cancer PSAs. The guy in the cancerous-mass suit looks like an alien from '70s Dr. Who or the grotesque but misunderstood Horta from Star Trek. Sure, it strikes the first blow in the spot above. But the thing was cornered by that gang of scruffy toughs with their "Movember" men's-health-month moustaches and was basically just defending itself. And the dudes are so ... unlikable. It's unfortunate when PSAs drum up sympathy for the diseases they're battling against. Contrast this approach with last month's New Zealand breast-cancer campaign. Same basic concept, but the NZ effort quietly generates menace by simply allowing the deadly growth to expand, just like it does all too often in real life.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Big Tobacco ad interviewer meets his match

I'd grown weary of American Legacy's fake-job-interview "Truth" spots from Arnold, but the latest iteration, this Web-only clip called "Nostradamus," ranks among the campaign's best. The phony Big Cig exec almost gets one-upped by a guy who frankly comes off more like a professional actor or repressed psychopath than a job seeker unaware he's being filmed for an anti-smoking commercial. Anyway, he challenges the notion that the tobacco business will cause 1 billion deaths around the world this century, pointing out that the world could end on December 23, 2012, at least according to Nostradamus. If the 16th-century French apothecary and reputed seer is correct, the guy says, that's when "all the planets align ... it'll throw off the gravitational force, we'll go out of orbit, we'll leave this galaxy, and we'll just go into oblivion." The interviewer replies, "Um ... why are you lookin' for a job, then?" More to the point: If the world really will end in three years, now's the time to start smoking.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
Legacy's mock interviews getting a little old

Vodafone ads show sad face of text bullying

It's not such a g'day Down Under when text-messaging bullies go all Qwerty on your ass. That's the basic thrust of this Colenso BBDO print campaign for Vodafone in Australia and New Zealand. The work effectively (if somewhat derivatively) plasters frowny-sad emoticons on the faces of school-age victims. Of course, if they actually look like that—bright yellow disk-shaped heads with no ears or noses—then they do have something to cry about and they will get teased. But seriously, this is a legitimate mobile-age problem that's generated its share of tragedies, so kudos to client and agency for confronting the issue, um, head-on. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

For an extreme holiday, come visit Dagobah

Did your plans for a summer cruise on Alderaan get blown to hell? Then it's time to consider a pulse-pounding week on Dagobah, the secluded swampy getaway that's guaranteed to muddy your boots and clear your mind. This marketing video from the Dagobah Tourism Bureau (aka writer and filmmaker Andrew Zilch) will make you want to ditch your friends and enjoy some quality quagmire time. So, if you've been looking for a place with low ceilings, disgusting food and annoying retirees, but you're tired of Florida, come watch the days go by on Dagobah. Hat tip to my brother-in-law, via Topless Robot.

—Posted by David Griner

Rhett & Link's zoo spot has a familiar aroma

Rhett & Link are back with another spot, posted above, in their I Love Local Commercials series. For this one, which advertises the Central Florida Zoo, the guys decided to return to "a simpler time in our lives, when something as natural as animal poop made us laugh." There is certainly lots of that here, as well as urination and a couple of humping giant tortoises. The Auckland Zoo in New Zealand got there first, however, in a spot that paid off the poo a bit better. As always, Rhett & Link has also posted a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Buy a mobile home from Cullman. Or don't.
Iowa music shop gets Rhett & Link TV spot

Nap with the Payless kitties on Black Friday

Martin/Williams encourages Payless customers to sleep in on Black Friday, and still get discounts via a special text coupon, in this video, which features an annoying "You're getting sleepy" hypnotist voiceover and, oddly, dozens of snoozing kittens. "We've decided to turn the Black Friday tradition on its ear this year and do it in a manner that's really fun and totally unique," says Tom Moudry, the agency's CEO and chief creative officer. I'm sure plenty of consumers will love the yawning kitties. Still, the clip drones on for a long 1:35, and some viewers might nod off before its conclusion. Given the run-of-the-mill stuff they sell at Payless, however, even if folks slip into catnaps and neglect to take advantage of the offer, they won't be missing much.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
Take the stairway to heaven with Payless